Summer Dresses - Vintage Dress Fabric Folly

It nagged me for a week.

It hit me in the shower.  (Steam does that to me.)

The fabric is all wrong for that pattern.  I consulted with Nathalie.  She agrees.  Ordering replacement now.

Sigh.  So much for stash busting.

The one ray of sunshine is I have a different pattern that would suit the original fabric perfectly.

I Will Wear Dresses - Part 2

Part Two - The Vintage

I agonized over this pattern for about a month or more:

I put it up on FB with some others and let the comments roll in.  If there is one thing I can count on with my friends, it's their honest opinions, for which I was very grateful. 

Interestingly enough, out of the voting also came an idea from my friend Nathalie - a vintage summer dress sew-along!  We have a lot of things in common - including girls the same age, and it serves as a great excuse to regularly get together over the summer.  She is going to make different pattern, also a vintage Butterick.  

I looked high and low for fabric.  Originally I needed a fabric that went with either a black or lavender cardigan, but in the end my fabric choice was neither.  Oh dear.  And another popular one.  I'm losing my edge :P  

Lizette Medallion Blue Sateen

I saw the fabric for 1/2 off at my local fabric store, and I was able to squeeze some end of bolt pricing as the remaining yardage was in two pieces on the bolt.  Otherwise, it would have been prohibitively out of my price range.   (Although, in it's defense, it's sateen, and it's gorgeous.  Seriously, the hand on this oozes quality, and it's probably worth it even at full price.  I'm actually tempted to go back and get some of the black dot poplin.)

So... is sewing a white cardigan in my future?  Is my vintage dress going to feel gorgeous but look like dullsville?  Lay it on me.

I Will Wear Dresses - Plan 1

I have been trying desperately to finish the dress from the 90's.  It turned out to have a heck of a lot of hand sewing - not a big deal, it just took me longer than expected.

I've also been thinking about some summer dresses - something easy you can throw on with a pair of flats and some accessories and feel mostly put together.

The goal is breezy and bright.  The first plan - The Moderne:

From the stash - Butterick 5456

I liked the keyhole detail in the back, and it looked 1) comfortable and 2) breezy for the CA heat.

I found this gorgeous fabric at Emma One Sock and loved it right away.

Definitely bright, 'eh?

Then the following weekend I walked into a certain favourite retailer that I love so much and saw this: 

$148

It took me a minute but the bells went off and when I got home, promptly contacted Linda who fortunately had another roll coming.  Not long after, a popular sewing blogger did a write up about the connection and I hear the fabric got pretty popular. I still don't mind, I love it that much.

So I have a muslin all cut out and ready to sew, I'm just trying to use this tutorial for a different method of construction for the bodice and haven't managed to get the computer and the sewing machine in the same general vicinity.  I know I'll have two dresses in the same style but the mock-up is a solid and then I'll have the floral.  I'm deficient enough in the dress department that I can live with a double up.  Or can I?

What about you?  Have you ever loved an item so much you've made or bought yourself two?  Am I going to regret this decision of an empire style floral?  Is the style too breezy?  Will I look like I've been knocked up frolicking in a field of hyperactive wild flowers? 

Tell me what you really think...

I am not a cat person

The end of school was to be celebrated by the memorial day weekend away with friends up the central coast of California.  All the school crazies ended, and I was going to sew at my leisure, bake some traveling treats, pack up my house in a stress-free fashion, and enjoy the long weekend.

Then this happened:

Tentative names were Buddy, Rover, and Twinkle

My husband found her in our front yard one night when he went to get the mail.  She started playing with the girls, then I realized it was hungry and thus began the downward spiral into cat ownership.

Needless to say my house did not get cleaned, nor did I bake the treats I'd hoped to take up north, I did not sew, and I certainly didn't pack until the last minute, managing to leave the toothpaste behind.  What I DID do was learn the spanish for "Is this your cat?" and "Have you lost a kitten?" and I door knocked up and down our street looking for the owners.  I called vets.  I made appointments.

I had some rules about the kitten, mostly trying to dissuade the growing feelings of attachment and hope.

We could not keep it if:

It's a boy.  She isn't.
It is aggressive towards the kids.  She wasn't.  Instead she was sweet, affectionate and patient.  
It's microchipped. She wasn't.
It's fatally sick. She is in perfect health.
The owner of our place says we can't keep her.  He said we could.  (!!)


And my last ditch attempt - if she is named after a Barbie movie cat: The girls instead chose "Rosie".

Rosie.

And so we became the owners of a 2 1/2 month old kitten who is pretty much perfect, and just landed on our doorstep.

Apparently I'm now a cat person.